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vanity and social media – the digital ego boost

Years ago, in order to reach out to a friend or colleague, you would call them, email them, walk over to their cubical, or even send a text message. Now, we reach out via social media networks. To add to that, we ensure that everyone knows how wonderful we are doing, even if at times, we may be doing horrible. We flood our social media profiles with vanity photos and brag stories about ourselves. So it’s no wonder that who we are, in fact our very existence, relies on our social media profiles.

What Was Shocking Pre-Social Media Is Everyday Normal Now

We share so much information on our social media profiles, it’s a wonder our friends and family can keep up. It’s not just about keeping up with what we have said every day of the week, but also what their other connections have said. With the millions of Facebook status updates, pictures posted on Pinterest, and Twitter tweets done daily, what is it to make us stop and read or stare in awe about what a person has posted?

What really matters now in our social media world? There may have been something so hilarious between you and your friends that you deemed it necessary to post, however, it was buried in the news feeds. There is just too much content being sent at once. Before social media, forwarding an email or text may have gotten an inside joke much further.

Is It Just Your Friends Or Others Who Are Watching You?

One thing that has gotten out of hand is the type of content being posted and shared on social media. The bragging is enough, but what about the non-essential lies? Has it ever occurred to anyone that there are others watching them on social media sites?

Look at a general person’s social media friends list. The average person will have possibly over 130 friends, yet can only count their true friends on one hand. So, the excess friends are just passer-byers, so to speak. You don’t engage with them on a daily basis and may forget who you have even connected with. You may have no clue who these people know.

So in turn, sending out the questionable pictures and posts could pose a danger to your true self. Consider law enforcement, potential employers, professional organization group members, and even your neighbor, who may have some sort of access to your social media profile.

Who Are You, Really?

Does your social media profile truly reflect who you are? In this infographics, Intel performed a study regarding online exaggerations. It shows that many are only posting the good – flattering profile pictures, ways to seem more intelligent, and who are more adventurous, and almost 50% of the lies posted can be read right through. People are looking to impress those online, to cover their insecurities, or find more friends. So you may have an alter social media personality in real life.

Organizations are Just as Vain

This social media vanity is not masked from businesses either. They can actually be some of the larger groups on social media sites screaming for attention. They are looking for more likes and page views, no matter the cost. While certain data is important to see what their customers enjoy and learn from, it isn’t always a 100% true reflection of how they view the organization, if it’s not the right content delivered.

Businesses should consider their audience. Are they going to increase their profits simply because there are 10,000 people who liked their page? Or will they see the profits from the 2,500 fans that shop sites, spread informative content to their peers, or post positive reviews on the fan page? Who is communicating back on their social media pages is what matters. Businesses should focus on delivering meaningful and engaging content, not just vanity posts.

So at the end of the day, who are your true followers? If nobody pays attention to your posts or considers them serious, what is the point of sharing? Trying to boost your ego and status alone doesn’t get you very far. Once we all realize that it’s about quality and not quantity, we may be able to grasp our hands around the original purpose of social media – to share and connect with those that matter most.

3 thoughts on “vanity and social media – the digital ego boost”

A really good observation Randy Bowden. Are we really connecting in the end? Or are we the main character in just another reality show – scripted? I’d like to believe that social is causing us to finally realize the “real me” and engage as such, but sometimes… I just wonder.

I wonder often Sandra, seems everyday something new and more bizarre happens and is shared. I do think the ability to develop genuine trustworthy relationships happens but vetting needs to occur more and more…

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This blog owned by bowden2bowden llc is written and edited by Randy Bowden and an occasional invited author, and does not reflect the views of either employers and/or clients. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are 100% mine and the occasional invited author. I will only endorse products or services that I believe, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement.

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